foundations of meat science

what are the primary characteristics of a carcass?

muscle, fat, bone

what are the three types of muscle tissue

connective, epithelial, and nervous

what percentage of skeletal muscle is part of the carcass’s body weight?

35-65%

smooth muscle is a component of what?

blood vessels

what is cardiac muscle confined to?

the heart

why are smooth and cardiac muscle both called striated muscle?

transverse banding pattern observed through microscope

how do skeletal muscles attach to bones?

both directly and indirectly via ligaments, fascia, cartilage, and skin

how many muscles are in an animals body?

600

what is the structural unit of skeletal muscles?

highly specialized unit called muscle cells, muscle fibers, myofibrils

muscle fibers are what percentage of total muscle volume?

75-92%

connective tissue, blood vessels, nerve fibers and ____ make up remaining muscle volume

extracellular fluid

the membrane surrounding a muscle fiber is called

sarcolemma

what is sarcoplasm

the cytoplasm of muscle fibers that consists of water (75-80%), lipids, glucagon, proteins, ribosomes, nonprotein nitrogenous, & a number of inorganic compounds

skeleton muscle fibers are ___ but the number of ___ per fiber is not constant

multinucleated, nucleus

Sarcoplasmic Reticulum is a membranous system of ___ and ___ that form a closely meshed network around each myofibril

tubules, cisternae

what are the functions of tubules and cisternae?

flattened reservoir for calcium storage

transverse tubules

invaginations of the sarcolemma for a network of tubules

where is the mitochondria located?

in the sarcoplasm

what does the mitochondria do?

captures energy from lipids, proteins, and carbs via oxidative metabolism